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Solid-Phase Microextraction
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Conventional analytical methods for organic pollutants in water require extraction of the
pollutants with hazardous solvents. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a solvent-free
equilibrium extraction method which, with proper calibration, can allow quantitative
determinations of organic pollutants at very good sensitivity (usually low-to-mid parts per
trillion) without the use of any organic solvents. The method can require as little as 30 minutes
for sample preparation and analytical separations, is easily automated, and is ideally suited for
use in the field. Although the method was originally developed for the analysis of water samples,
the EERC is now combining subcritical water extraction with SPME to allow for a very rapid and
organic solvent-free method for determining organic pollutants on soils and sludges.